List of Famous people born in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Claudia Losch is a retired German shot putter. She is the 1984 Olympic Champion. At the 1988 Olympic Games, she finished fifth. She is also the 1989 World Indoor Champion and won the European Indoor title three times.

Manuel Reuter, better known by his stage name DJ Manian or just Manian, is a German music producer, DJ and owner of Zooland Records label.

Miland "Mille" Petrozza is a German guitarist and singer of Italian descent. He is best known for being the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of thrash metal band Kreator, which he started playing in as Tyrant in 1982 and renamed into Tormentor in 1984. He is also the principal songwriter of the band and the only member to appear on every Kreator album.

Christian Knees is a German former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2004 and 2020, for the Wiesenhof, Team Milram and Ineos Grenadiers teams. He won the German National Road Race Championship in 2010. In 2011 he was originally going to join the Australian team known as Pegasus but left after they failed to secure a UCI Professional Continental license. He ultimately joined Team Sky as a domestique. He remained with the team as a rider until announcing his retirement from the sport in December 2020, moving into a role within the team's racing and performance areas.